archives

o Labels, Webcasters Respond to Copyright Office's Royalty Rate Proposal
o Satellite Radio Firms Sign Licensing Deal With ASCAP
o Game Retailer GameStop's IPO Raises $250 Million
o Worldwide Online Music Copyright Treaty Goes Into Effect May 20
o Interactive TV Applications Developer Go Interact TV Raises $7.8 Million
o Report: Annual Video Game Sales to Grow 40% Over 5 Years
o President and CEO of Radio Broadcasting Giant Infinity Resigns
> Digital Media Wire Panel: Interactive Games -- L.A. | S.F. | NYC
o Briefly Noted: Static 2358 - Gorillaz - CBeebies, DirecTV - TiVo, Rogers
Communications - Alliance Entertainment, Two Way TV - BBC "Antiques
Roadshow," Moxi Digital, Home gateway: PC vs. TV
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o Labels, Webcasters Respond to Copyright Office's Royalty Rate Proposal

Washington, D.C. -- Reactions on Thursday were varied from the recording
industry and the webcasting industry to the U.S. Copyright Office's
proposed royalty rates that webcasters will have to pay labels and artists
to operate online radio stations. Jonathan Potter, executive director of
webcasters' trade group The Digital Media Association, said in a statement
that the proposed rate "is much closer to the royalty rate proposed by the
webcast industry than was proposed by the recording industry. We are
extremely disappointed, however, that the Panel's proposed rate is not
significantly lower, as a lower rate would more accurately reflect the
marketplace for music performance rights and the business environment of
the webcast industry." Recording Industry Association of America CEO
Hilary Rosen issued a statement that said, "We would have preferred a
higher rate. But in setting a rate that is about 10 times that proposed by
the webcasters, the panel clearly concluded that the webcasters' proposal
was unreasonably low and not credible." Several news outlets gauged
reactions in stories provided through links below.
http://www.riaa.org/PR_story.cfm?id=487
http://www.digmedia.org/webcasting/carp.cfm
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la000013215feb21.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dtechnology
http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,50551,00.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-841612.html
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/174644.html
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o Satellite Radio Firms Sign Licensing Deal With ASCAP

New York -- Satellite-delivered digital radio firms XM Satellite Radio and
Sirius Satellite Radio have signed five-year licensing agreements with the
The American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP), which
arrange for royalty payments to ASCAP member songwriters and music
publishers. Financial terms of the agreements were not disclosed. "The
depth and diversity of music played on satellite radio means that more of
our members will have their works heard and receive royalties as a
result," said ASCAP senior vice president and director of licensing
Vincent Candilora. ASCAP is a performing rights organization, such as BMI
or SESAC, whose members are responsible for the creation of over seven
million musical works.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020220/202430_1.html
http://www.ascap.com
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o Game Retailer GameStop's IPO Raises $250 Million

New York -- Bookseller Barnes and Noble announced on Thursday that the
Feb. 19 initial public offering for its GameStop subsidiary, an online and
bricks-and-mortar retailer of video games, raised $250 million in cash for
Barnes and Noble, Inc. and $52.4 million in net proceeds for GameStop.
Barnes and Noble will retain an approximate 60 percent stake in the
company following the offering. Grapevine, Texas-based GameStop operates
retail stores under the GameStop, Babbage's, Software Etc. and FuncoLand
names, while GameStop.com is the largest online retailer of new and used
video games and entertainment software.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020221/212139_1.html
http://www.gamestop.com
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o Worldwide Online Music Copyright Treaty Goes Into Effect May 20

Geneva -- A treaty that aims to protect recording artists from Internet
music piracy will go into effect on May 20, following its ratification by
Honduras, the United Nations' World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO) announced on Thursday. Honduras became the 30th nation of the 160
original nations that negotiated the treaty to ratify the provisions,
which resemble the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the U.S. "This will
create the conditions necessary for the broad-based and legitimate
distribution of creative works and recordings on the Internet," said Kamal
Idris, director-general of the WIPO. The United States is among the
countries that have ratified the treaty, as well as another WIPO treaty
that aims to protect authors' works on the Internet. The second treaty is
slated to go into effect on March 6.
http://www.wipo.org/pressroom/en/releases/2002/p302.htm
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020221/ap_on_hi_te/un_world_copyright_3
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o Interactive TV Applications Developer Go Interact TV Raises $7.8 Million

Hampshire, U.K. -- Go Interact TV, a Sony spin-off that develops
interactive TV applications, announced that it has raised $7.8 million in
its first round of external funding from Doughty Hanson Technology
Ventures. U.K.-based Go Interact TV develops interactive ads, t-commerce
features and TV games for clients such as Channel 4. The company was
founded in January 2001 as Sony Digital interactive Broadband Services
Ltd. with funding from Sony Venture Capital Europe and Sony Pictures
Entertainment, and was spun-off as Go Interact TV in April 2001.
http://www.gointeract.tv/
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o Report: Annual Video Game Sales to Grow 40% Over 5 Years

San Diego -- Annual sales figures for video games are expected to grow
over 40 percent between now and 2006, according to a report published
Thursday by market research firm DFC Intelligence. "The successful
introduction of four new game systems in 2000 and 2001 meant that the
industry was able to avoid the major downturn in sales that has occurred
in past platform transitions," said DFC president David Cole. Sales of
video games, not including the consoles they are played on, brought $6.35
billion worldwide in 2001, according to the Interactive Digital Software
Association, and DFC predicts that this record figure will once again be
broken in 2002. For consoles, DFC predicts that SonyPlaystation 2,
Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo GameCube will have combined sales of 60
million units by 2006.
http://www.dfcint.com/news/prFeb212002.html
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o President and CEO of Radio Broadcasting Giant Infinity Resigns

New York -- Viacom has announced that the president and CEO of its
Infinity Broadcasting subsidiary, one of the largest radio station owners
in the U.S., has resigned effective immediately. Farid Suleman is
resigning his post to join Forstmann Little & Co. as a special limited
partner. Viacom president and chief operating officer Mel Karmazin -- who
formerly served as president and CEO of Infinity -- will assume Suleman's
responsibilities until a successor can be named. New York-based Infinity
owns and operates 186 radio stations in 22 states.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020220/nyw129_1.html
http://www.infinityradio.com/
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STREAMING MEDIA WEST 2002 - April 23 - 26, Los Angeles Convention Center

Streaming Media West 2002 is the World's Largest Digital Media Technology
Event, featuring an extensive exhibition floor and an intensive four-day
Conference program.

Co-located with Internet World Spring, Streaming Media West is the premier
event for business and technology professionals to conduct business,
discover the latest advancements in streaming and digital media and forge
valuable relationships. Join us in Los Angeles and discover for yourself
the business and technology of streaming and digital media!

For your FREE Exhibition pass or to save $200 on your full Conference pass
visit http://www.streamingmedia.com/west
Or contact register@streamingmedia.com or 888 301-8890

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Jupiter's 9th Annual Media Forum: The Death of Free Content?
March 18 - 19, 2002: New York, New York

Strategies for Exploiting Media Assets Online

Join Jupiter Analysts and speakers from The New York Times, Wall Street
Journal, Cahners, Cox Interactive, ESPN.com, ABCNews.com, People.com, E!
Online, BBC World Service and over 20 other companies for 2 days of data,
discussion and debate on how media companies should work around the
downy-soft ad market through new revenue streams and cost-saving
strategies.

To register: http://www.jmm.com/mediaforum
Customer Service: eventsreg@jmm.com

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Make better games.

Game Developers Conference 2002
March 19-23
San Jose, California

Learn about successful game creation from the world's leading
developers.At the Game Developers Conference, industry experts lead more
than 300 lectures, tutorials and roundtables. Visual Arts track sessions
cover non-linear animation, blended animations, modeling, texturing and
lighting. Those interested in interactivity or in broadening their skill
set are encouraged to attend.

http://www.gdconf.com

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o Briefly Noted:

(London) Static 2358, a subsidiary of interactive TV firm OpenTV that
develops interactive TV games, announced that it has created an iTV game
based on EMI recording artist Gorillaz, a band whose members are
represented in videos and elsewhere by cartoon characters. The game will
appear on Static's PlayJam games channel in Europe starting on Friday.
London-based Static also said that it has created 14 iTV games for
CBeebies, the BBC's new digital channel for pre-schoolers.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020218/180016_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020218/182123_1.html
http://www.gorillaz.com
http://www.static.co.uk

(El Segundo, Calif.) Satellite TV provider DirecTV said on Thursday that
it has expanded its partnership with personal video recorder (PVR)
manufacturer TiVo. Under the agreement, TiVo becomes the primary provider
of PVR functionality for DirecTV receivers, while DirecTV can now use TiVo
technology to develop and launch new services either by itself, with TiVo
or in conjunction with third parties. In addition, DirecTV will take over
primary customer acquisition and support, as well as packaging and
branding of DirecTV receivers with TiVo. The two companies will also
collaborate on an advanced PVR/satellite receiver.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020221/sfth038_1.html
http://www.tivo.com

(Toronto) Canadian cable TV operator Rogers Communications launched the
first video-on-demand (VOD) services in Canada this week. Content will be
provided through a partnership with Alliance Entertainment Motion Picture
Distribution, which represents studios including Miramax, New Line and
Artisan Films; the service will also offer TV series, documentaries and
concerts. Rogers will deploy VOD to 1000 Toronto customers initially, with
90 percent of Ontario expected to be covered by the end of 2003.
http://micro.newswire.ca/releases/February2002/19/c3172.html/84735-0

(London) Interactive TV developer Two Way TV has created an interactive
version of the BBC's "Antiques Roadshow" program that will debut on
Sunday. The free game will let viewers answer multiple-choice questions
with their TV remote control as various objects are appraised. Viewers can
also make guesses as to the value of the antique being discussed, with
scores displayed on-screen.
http://www.twowaytv.com/version3/news_detail.asp?news_id=91
http://www.bbc.co.uk/antiques/

(Palo Alto, Calif.) Moxi Digital, a developer of Internet-connected home
entertainment devices, announced on Thursday that president and CEO Steve
Perlman is stepping down from his positions to "devote more time to
creative projects at Rearden Steel Studios." Perlman will remain as vice
chairman of the company, while Rita Brogley has been appointed as the new
president and CEO. Formerly the company's head of business development,
sales and marketing, Brogley previously was with Microsoft TV.
http://www.moxi.com/articles/press_Mgmtchg.htm

(San Francisco) Business technology magazine Red Herring recently reported
on the battle among consumer electronics manufacturers to create "home
gateways," or devices from which all media in the home are accessed, from
either a PC or a TV. Companies including Apple, Sony, Microsoft and Moxi
Digital are all competing against one another to create a device appealing
enough to consumers to take over the dual role of PC as workhorse and
Internet access medium and TV as centerpiece for entertainment.
http://www.redherring.com/vc/2002/0208/angler.html
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>DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE PANEL DISCUSSION SERIES:
"Interactive Games on the Internet: Recent Developments and New Business
Opportunities"

LOS ANGELES: Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2002, Four Seasons Hotel, Beverly Hills

Confirmed panelists include Tracy Fullerton, President, Spiderdance; Seth
Gerson, Co-Founder, YaYa; Victor Hwang, COO, LARTA; Chris Kantrowitz,
Co-Founder, The Groove Alliance and President, 7ate9 Productions; Mark
Kapczynski, Principal Consultant, Microsoft; and Mark Surfas, Founder,
Chairman and CEO, GameSpy.

For more information and to register for the Los Angeles event:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/LAgames2.html

SAN FRANCISCO: Tuesday, March 12, 2002, The City Club of San Francisco

Confirmed panelists include Greg Kasavin, Executive Editor, GameSpot; Chad
Richard, CEO, NoizePlay; Mark Surfas, Founder, Chairman and CEO, GameSpy;
and John Welch, VP of Games and Product Development, AtomShockwave.

For more information and to register for the San Francisco event:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/SFgames2.html

NEW YORK: Thursday, March 14, 2002, The Cornell Club of New York City

Confirmed panelists include Billy Pidgeon, Digital Media Analyst; Greg
Costikyan, Founder and Chief Design Officer, Unplugged Games; Doug
Lowenstein, President, Interactive Digital Software Association; and
Joseph Varet, VP of Business Development and Strategy, The Groove
Alliance.

For more information and to register for the New York event:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/NYCgames2.html

Sponsorships and Inquiries: Ned Sherman at 323/464.0793
Or esherman@digitalmediawire.com
______________________

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Copyright 2002 Digital Media Wire